Marguerite Johnson (Maya Angelou) was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. Her father was named Bailey Johnson. He was a doorman and also a navy dietitian. Her mother's name was Vivian Johnson.She was a real estate agent, a trained surgical nurse and later a merchant marine. Her parents divorced when she was three years old and her brother was four. After the divorce they were sent by her father to live with her grand-mother in Stamps, Arkansas. After four years her father "came to stamps without warning". He took them back and returned them to their mother to be taken care of by her. At age 8, while living with her mother, Angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend. The man was found guilty at trial, but was jailed for one day. Four days after being released, he was found kicked to death, probably by Angelou's uncles. After this incident she did not speak for five years. "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone..." After this incident she and her brother were sent back to their grandmothers' house again.Angelou credits Mrs. Bertha Flowers with helping her speak again. During World War II, she attended George Washington High School, then went on to study dance and drama on a scholarship at the California Labor School. She gave birth to her son three weeks after graduating high school. Her personality is described as a bit self-willed and emotionally intense. She is the type of person who is capable of unexpected outbursts of feelings and desires. Maya Angelou has many famous works but the most famous of all of them is probably I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is the first book in her series of autobiographies.
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